Because cats are weird
by sheelaflower
Summary: In which Mikey gets a pet cat -2012-


**Prologue**

The streets of New York at night were dangerous, which is why most people stay within their flats and houses once the sun had gone down. The only place that was always crowded was the center of Manhattan, which is why those four brothers would never, ever go there. The risk of being seen was just too high. This was also why the darker faces that roamed the streets of the big apple would never go there, either, instead hiding in the shadows of the big buildings around that center. Other creatures would lurk in those shadows as well. Hideous monsters and Aliens as some would think; stray animals and homeless people.

Those four brothers knew how to use those shadows to the full extent. But they hardly ever did. Usually, they would jump from roof to roof, because that is where they would absolutely not be caught. After all, what would people do if they actually captured a mutant turtle? A monster, as they would seem in the eyes of many. Nobody would be interested in the fact that it was those four turtles, those brothers, who kept their town safe at night. And up until this day, only very few knew.

And so they were forced to stay hidden. But perhaps, if you looked close enough, you would be able to spot them; four creatures that looked somewhat human, yet one glance would be enough to know that they're not. They may walk on two feet and they may talk like anyone else, but their skins are green, their torsos protected by shells and they only have three fingers on each hand, just as they have only three toes on each foot. But their eyes spoke of human intelligence as they roamed the city, looking for any sign of trouble. That was what mutant turtles looked like.

"uuhhh … what are looking for again?" one of them asked, at first sight only distinguishable from the others by an orange mask that covered the middle of his face, only leaving two gaps for his eyes.

"Mikey, we've been through this a hundred times." A turtle with a purple mask hissed. "When are you going to …"

"Relax, Donnie", another turtle with a blue mask interrupted. "This is Mikey, you should be used to it by now."

"I don't know if I should feel grateful or insulted by this statement", Mikey thought out loud.

"Insulted", the last turtle, wearing a red mask, answered.

"Alright guys, let's go through this one more time. And Mikey, listen carefully this time", the turtle with the blue mask ordered.

Mikey nodded enthusiastically, his eyes getting huge as he listened to the words of his leader with all the concentration he's got.

"We're looking for the purple dragons because April found out that they're planning to rob a jewel store. And since this-" he pointed at a shop on the opposite side of the street "-is the only jewel store in the area, the chances that they'll strike here are high. So we'll stay here and wait and at the first sign of them, we jump in and make sure they don't even get the chance to do that robbery. Get it now?"

Again, Mikey nodded enthusiastically, but his three brothers were skeptical if he really did understand. But since there was hardly anything else they could do, they decided to leave it at that and return their attention back to the jewel store. They did it just in time as well, as they could see five people dressed in black and white making their way to the door. A little cat was in their way and they kicked it aside.

"How dare they hurt a little kitty", Mikey cried upset. "Get them!"

Usually, it was the turtle in blue that gave the instructions, but Mikey had a soft side for animals (and pizza). So his rage was aflame when he saw a helpless little animal get mistreated and before his brothers could even react, he was already in the middle of the fight, showing advanced ninja skills.

His three brothers were on his heels, each fighting with their own weapon and one of them better at martial arts than the next. In no time, the five delinquents were cornered and the turtle with the blue mask stepped forward, holding his sword to the throat of one of the men, while his eyes got dangerously small.

"You just don't learn do you?" he said quietly. "Whenever you try something, we'll be there to stop you, whenever you try to fight, we'll beat you. If you weren't so pathetically easy to beat, we'd have made sushi out of you a long time ago."

The man in front of him huffed in panic, his eyes wide and a river of sweat running down his body. He knew that one wrong move meant that this blade would hurt him, kill him even if he did something really stupid.

"Now get out of here."

The turtle put his blade back and the five men ran as fast as they could, followed closely by four pair of eyes until they were completely out of sight.

"I can't believe you let them go again!" The turtle in red shouted.

"I'm the leader, Raph. I decide who gets to run and who doesn't."

"Yeah, but …"

A small noise made them halt in their fight and look down. The cat that had been kicked away earlier was now snuggling up to the leader's feet and meowing as if trying to say 'thank you'. All four brothers looked at that cat with wide eyes, not quite knowing what to do. For a moment, there was silence until Mikey's love for animals took over.

"Aaaaw, it's so cute", he squealed and picked up the cat. "And it's so fluffy too. And look, I think it likes me."

Indeed, the cat purred softly at the turtle's caress and licked his cheek. The mutant laughed at that and tried to keep the cat from climbing all over him. The both of them seemed to enjoy that little game.

"Can we keep it?" Mikey asked out of the blue.

"NO!" all three brothers yelled at the fourth.

"But … but … but … it came to us. And look, it doesn't have a collar, so it's probably a stray. That means it doesn't have a home, or a mommy or even food. You can't just leave it to rot out here. C'mon, please?"

"Mikey, a pet means responsibility and that is something that you of all people are incapable of handling that."

The fourth brother looked to the ground at that.

"Well …" Donnie cut it, "technically, since it's a cat, you don't even have to take care of it. Cats are independent, they take care of themselves. If anything would be a good pet for Mikey, it would be a cat. You don't have to feed it, don't have to wash it, don't have to clean up its excrement's …"

"So you're on my side?" Mikey asked his brother hopefully.

Donnie looked at the cat a bit closer. It was almost completely black, except for his stomach, which was white. The tail and its paws also had white tips to it had huge eyes the color of a poisonous green. Its head was also a big, just as its paws, so it probably wasn't completely grown up yet. It was still a kitten and it probably would die if it was left out here.

"I don't see why not. Besides, it really is cute … and female."

"So it's a 'she', huh?" Mikey beamed. "What do you think, Raph? Don't you want to keep her, too? We all know you have a soft spot for cute things and you have a pet turtle of your own."

"I do NOT have a soft spot for cute things!" the brother in red yelled.

Mikey held out the kitten to him and it looked at Raph with its huge eyes. The turtle could feel his resolve melting as he looked into the eyes of the cat and involuntarily, a blush formed on the face of the toughest brother. Mikey and Donnie were right, it was irresistibly cute.

"F … fine, keep it if you want to", Raph growled.

Now, Mikey and that cat looked at the leader of the group with big pleading eyes and the last turtle's eye twitched as he looked at them. He was outnumbered, but he could not think of this as a good idea. To make it simple, he was at a loss of what to do.

"Please, Leo?" Mikey begged one more time.

"Let's ask Splinter about this", Leo finally gave up with a sigh and Mikey cheered.

The brother's hideout was the sewers of New York, where they had actually managed to feel quite homey. There was a huge couch, a TV, a pinball game and a lot of pizza boxes lying around on the floor. It was as if you walked into the room of a teenage boy, only a lot larger. And on the couch, silently reading a book was a young teenage girl with red hair that was pulled back into a short ponytail, with a yellow shirt, shorts, black leggings and brown boots.

"Hey guys", she greeted when she noticed the four brothers had entered their home.

"Hi April", Donnie greeted shyly while a blush spread on his cheeks. Behind him, Leo and Raph snickered.

"Hey April, look what we found", Mikey cried excited and showed her the cat that was still in his arms, staring up at the girl curiously.

The girls eyes got wide and she started squealing, taking the furry little thing into her arms and cuddling it tightly. The cat seemed to like it and meowed loudly, rubbing her face against the cheek of the teenage girl.

"Oh, it's so cute. Where did you find it? What's its name? Can we keep it? Please?"

"We're about to ask Splinter about that", Leo answered in his brother's stead and caressed the little cat's head. "But if we ask together, I'm sure he'll say yes."

"What will I say yes to?" a voice came from the side and all five heads turned immediately.

In the doorway to another room was a huge rat, dressed in traditional Japanese clothing, looking down at the turtles and the girl with a very calm look. Albeit the rat seemed rather old, every ounce of his presence spoke of wisdom and power.

"Sensei!" Mikey and April cried in unison and ran up to him, showing him the kitten they had found. "Sensei we found that cat on the streets and it's a stray and she likes us so can we keep her pleeaaassseeee?"

The rat looked at the cat, then back at the eyes of the girl and his youngest son, then back at the cat and back the turtle and the girl.

"Sure", he simply said.

"Oh come on, sensei, that's not fair you can't just …" the two stopped in the middle of their rant when they had realized what their master had said, though not quite believing it yet.

"Did you just say yes?" April asked carefully.

"I don't see a reason not to. As long as you take care of it and make sure it doesn't cause any trouble, I don't mind it staying here."

And with that, the rat turned around and disappeared back into the room he came from. The five teens just stared after him, not quite believing that their master had just allowed them something like that. But then, April and Mikey started cheering and hugging each other, crushing the little cat in the middle. The cat seemed to have enough affection and freed itself from the two teens grasp. Still a little clumsily, but already with the first grace of a grown cat, she made her way to the couch and curled together there, seeming to already feel home in this hideout.

Immediately, the five boys and April scrambled together on the couch, eyeing their newest friend.

"She's so cute", Mikey sighed dreamily.

"What shall we call her?" April asked.

"How about Jeanne? Like Jeanne d'Arc, the renaissance hero. You know, since we're all called after renaissance artists", Donnie suggested.

"Nah, that sounds weird", the girl in the group stated. "What about Kaguya?"

"Where'd you get that idea?" Donnie asked her. "Not that I think it's a bad one, it's a wonderful suggestion. I was just wondering why …"

"Just look at her. She's completely black, like the night, only a few parts of her are white. Doesn't that remind you of the moon? And since Kaguya came from the moon, I kinda thought it was fitting."

"Kaguya is too big a name for a cat, but you might be on to something with the moon thing. Why don't we call her Luna?" Leo suggested and Ralph snorted at that.

"Luna? That's so cliché. Let's call her killer. You know, since cats love to kill their prey. Besides, it sounds badass."

"You can't be serious", Leo said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh yeah? Well 'Killer' is still better than 'Luna', you nitwit!"

"Call me Nitwit one more time and I'll …."

"Kitten!" Mikey interrupted them and all eyes turned to him. "Let's just keep it simple and call her Kitten."

For a second, everyone was quiet. Mikey was good at giving names; that was out of question, but calling a cat 'Kitten' just seemed a little too simple. Yet, when they looked at the sleeping cat next to them, it did seem kind of fitting. Each one of them could see themselves calling their newest pet 'Kitten' from now on. As simple as it might be, it fit her perfectly.

"A cute name for a cute cat", April finally said. "Kitten it is."

**Alrighty guys, this is my first try at a TMNT fic and it's completely based on the 2012 show, since it's my favorite of them all. I don't know what it is, but something about the turtles in this version makes them so insanely irresistibly cute. It's funny, but knows to be serious when shit hits the fan (even though I wish they'd take it just a little more serious when it has to be). To make it short, I love it. So much that I just had to write this.**

**Now this is just a test to see if it hits your tastes. Tell me if you want me to continue this. If I don't get any responses, I'll take it back down. If you guys say you want me to continue, I'll put an updated, reread version of this and I'll do as you wish and continue writing this.**

**Come on guys, it's about Mikey getting a pet cat. Just think of the possibilities.**


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